Cricket carnival back as Andhra Premier League gets off to a great start

Actress Sreeleela posing with the captains of the six franchises that are taking part in the second season of AP, at the Dr. YSR ACA-VDCA Stadium at PM Palem in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.

The second season of the Andhra Premier League (APL) being organised by the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) got off to a flying start at the Dr. YSR ACA-VDCA Stadium in the city on Wednesday.

Six teams — Coastal Riders, Bezawada Tigers, Vizag Warriors, Rayalaseema Kings, Marlin Godavari Titans and KVR Uttarandhra Lions — are taking part in the event scheduled to be held from August 16 to 27. All the matches will be held at Dr. YSR ACA-VDCA Stadium. Entry for the matches is free.

During the inaugural, ACA president P. Sarath Chandra Reddy said that the second season is being organised in collaboration with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to identify talented cricketers at the grassroots.

“APL may help budding cricketers from the region grab opportunities in the Indian Premier League (IPL), as well as at the national and international level,” he said.

IT Minister Gudivada Amarnath, who attended the event, said that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has given special importance to sports.. Measures are being taken for development of sports infrastructure in the State, he said.

Under the ‘Aadudam Andhra’ initiative, various sporting events will be conducted across the State which will help identify budding talents, he said.

Visakhapatnam MP M.V.V. Satyanarayana, Mayor G. Hari Venkata Kumari, former MLA and president of Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association (VDCA) P. Vishnu Kumar Raju, APL Governing Council chairman Manchu Perrar, ACA secretary S.R. Gopinath Reddy, Bheemunipatnam MLA M. Srinivasa Rao, and Collector A. Mallikarjuna participated in the inaugural ceremony.

Earlier in the day, ACA Secretary S.R. Gopinath Reddy, addressing a press conference, said that in this season, ACA has decided to conduct a lucky dip competition. Spectators can drop slips of paper with their name and address in a drop box inside the stadium. On match days (August 16, 19, 20, 26 and 27), before the start of play, five slips will be selected from the lucky dip and they will be given free passes to watch the India vs Australia T20 match, which is scheduled to be held in November in Vizag, he said.

A carnival-like atmosphere will be organised near the stadium to increase footfalls, he said, adding that the matches would be telecast on Star Sports and can be streamed on the Fancode app.

The first match of the tournament was held between Coastal Riders and Bezawada Tigers. Coastal Riders won the match by 12 runs.

Actress Sreeleela attended the event as the guest of honour.